Think You Have a Hit? Send Your Music To This Guy…

Recently, we got the chance to do a succint interview with the man behind CrazedHits.com. If you didn’t know, Alex Wilhelm has been predicting hits for a few years now and has an impressive list of artists who have signed various deals after being featured on his site. I wanted to find out a little about him to see what he looks for.

Hope you enjoy:

1. Tell us a little about yourself and how you got involved with CrazedHits.com?

My name is Alex Wilhelm, I’m the CEO of Crazed Hits, the music industry’s leading A&R Site. I started Crazed Hits because I wanted to build a platform that would allow great unsigned artists to be heard, that I’m passionate about.

2. What are the musical qualities you look for in a crazed hit artist?

The main quality that I look for in an artist is uniqueness. They need to be something that’s really special, something that sets them apart from everyone else. Since we feature at least three artists a week on Crazed Hits, it’s definitely a challenge to find enough artists that fit that mold. However, every once in a while we feature artists that aren’t blatantly unique, but they might be getting a lot of attention online or through the industry,

3. Do you look for artists that will appeal to only the major labels?

No, I don’t look for artists that will only appeal to major labels. My main interest is in finding things that have major mainstream appeal, and for the most part, those artists happen to be acts that have the potential to be signed by major labels.

4. Why do artists such as Drake, who’ve gained much independently, choose to sign with majors still?

I don’t know what specific terms Drake got offered, so I can’t answer that question. Generally speaking, major labels can still be very valuable when it comes to promotion, marketing and distribution. Even if an artist has a great deal of success independently, it could still make a lot of sense for them to sign to a major, given that they are offered the right terms.

5. If you were featured on Crazed Hits and were offed deals what type would you take and why?

If I’d be an artist and labels were offering me deals, I would pay most attention to the people at the label. You do want to sign a lucrative deal that puts some money in your pocket, but the most important thing is signing with a label that truly understands who are and the scope of your potential, and in essence will fully support your artistic vision.

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Like I said, it was short and sweet, but a few good reminders.

1. Artists with wide appeal that have demonstrated success are what most major labels looks for when making deals in today’s world.

2. Uniqueness is very important.

3. Money doesn’t matter as much as having the right people push your music.

I leave you with one of Alex’s latest predictions, Owl City’s “Fireflies”

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The New Rockstar Philosophy is a publication focused on music, technology, and artistry.
Published internationally (Italy 2011 NDA Press) and in North America (Indie Ink Publishing 2013) and into an interactive iPad App (Indie Ink in 2014).